TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
Employment figures maintain positive trend
07/06/2017
The positive employment figures published at Easter have continued their upward trend into May.
The most recent data published by the Employment Ministry shows encouraging figures both for unemployment and new employment: 111,908 fewer out of work and 223,192 more people making Social Security payments, an historic record for any month of May and the highest for any month since 2005.
"We have got back 65% of the affiliated workers lost during the recession", Tomás Burgos, secretary general for Social Security, told the press. There are now 18,345,414 people in work in Spain, well ahead of the 16 million the country dropped to during the worst months of the recession, back in 2013.
Nevertheless, the total is still a long way short of the 20 million Rajoy set as his objective for the end of his legislature, in 2020.
Burgos was delighted to announce the best employment figures for 142 months, saying they were "singularly positive whichever way you look at them".
His opinion was not however shared by all. "The government is wagering everything on seasonal work and only consolidating temporary jobs", complained Mari Carmen Barrera, secretary for employment for the UGT, after hearing the employment figures for May, which still leave the country with 3,461,128 people out of work.
The trade union lamented the fact that the majority of new jobs were seasonal and linked to tourism. The affiliation statistics show that of the 207,571 newly affiliated workers, 65,409 were working in the hotel and restaurant trades and 15,793 in shops.
Bugos, however, also highlighted the number of new workers in the construction industry (+14,327), which has seen a revival of fortunes over the past year (the number of people working in this sector has increased by 8.8%, the biggest increase in any sector) and, as Burgos pointed out, "is showing its best month of May since 2006".
A degree of uncertainty is still reflected in the type of contract being awarded. No other month since records began has seen such a high number of new contracts being signed (2,027,569), but only 8.2% of them were indefinite contracts (167,267) and barely 4.8% were permanent and full time, which are the only ones which provide workers with stability and a regular income.
"Logically, temporary contracts last for less time and you only need to turn to EPA (Encuesta de Población Activa - the Spanish labour statistics office) to see that 70% of all Spaniards have permanent contracts", explained Juan Pablo Riesgo, secretary of state for employment, who emphasised the "strong" 14.8% growth in the number of fixed contracts signed in May compared with the same month in 2016.
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The positive employment figures published at Easter have continued their upward trend into May.
The most recent data published by the Employment Ministry shows encouraging figures both for unemployment and new employment: 111,908 fewer out of work and 223,192 more people making Social Security payments, an historic record for any month of May and the highest for any month since 2005.
"We have got back 65% of the affiliated workers lost during the recession", Tomás Burgos, secretary general for Social Security, told the press. There are now 18,345,414 people in work in Spain, well ahead of the 16 million the country dropped to during the worst months of the recession, back in 2013.
Nevertheless, the total is still a long way short of the 20 million Rajoy set as his objective for the end of his legislature, in 2020.
Burgos was delighted to announce the best employment figures for 142 months, saying they were "singularly positive whichever way you look at them".
His opinion was not however shared by all. "The government is wagering everything on seasonal work and only consolidating temporary jobs", complained Mari Carmen Barrera, secretary for employment for the UGT, after hearing the employment figures for May, which still leave the country with 3,461,128 people out of work.
The trade union lamented the fact that the majority of new jobs were seasonal and linked to tourism. The affiliation statistics show that of the 207,571 newly affiliated workers, 65,409 were working in the hotel and restaurant trades and 15,793 in shops.
Bugos, however, also highlighted the number of new workers in the construction industry (+14,327), which has seen a revival of fortunes over the past year (the number of people working in this sector has increased by 8.8%, the biggest increase in any sector) and, as Burgos pointed out, "is showing its best month of May since 2006".
A degree of uncertainty is still reflected in the type of contract being awarded. No other month since records began has seen such a high number of new contracts being signed (2,027,569), but only 8.2% of them were indefinite contracts (167,267) and barely 4.8% were permanent and full time, which are the only ones which provide workers with stability and a regular income.
"Logically, temporary contracts last for less time and you only need to turn to EPA (Encuesta de Población Activa - the Spanish labour statistics office) to see that 70% of all Spaniards have permanent contracts", explained Juan Pablo Riesgo, secretary of state for employment, who emphasised the "strong" 14.8% growth in the number of fixed contracts signed in May compared with the same month in 2016.
Related Topics
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